When speaking with a friend today about the bears we saw on vacation, it struck me how a narrative can shape us. Everything from our early fairytale stories to the occasionally story of a wildlife encounter gone wrong can make people fearful. The big bad wolf or the three bears don't really help us live with wildlife. Things don't need to be true, only repeated enough to gain traction. My encounter with the bears really brought this home. This is not to say that wild animals are not to be respected. They mostly want to be left alone. This family is soon to break up after the youngsters have spent 16-17 months with their mom. It could happen suddenly when she encounters a male and is ready to mate again. These two yearlings will now have to fend for themselves taking everything they have learned from their mom to survive. Males will have to find their own territory, a formidable task for a young bear.
You can see that the bear is creating what is called a bear's nest. It is not a place of rest like you might think, but rather an accumulation of branches and twigs and is a sign that a bear has been eating here. So if you are in bear country and look up into a tree and see a pile like this that is bigger than a squirrel's nest and not cupped, you may have found a place where a bear had a meal. Look for some bear claw marks on the tree as well.
Years ago while vacationing in the Virgin Islands National Park, we rented a vehicle to go exploring off the beat places to snorkel. We found a place that was down a potholed narrow dirt road where reports of sea turtles were seen. As I waded knee deep fiddling with my mask, a large crab was propelling itself on top of the water directly towards my legs. I always remember how I wasn’t frightened but more curious as to what it was doing. Just about a foot in front of me now, an octopus revealed itself coming to the surface and enveloping the crab taking it under the water. It was telling how I would react to wild encounters in the future; calm and curious. I think of this now as I look back at the moment a large black bear is forty feet in front of me. I always wondered how I might feel with such a large animal like a bear. When I encountered this bear, I wasn’t afraid at all though I still was totally aware that it was a wild animal that could become aggressive if threatened or aggravated. Most of the time, you can read an animal and see if they are relaxed or becoming agitated. I just was in awe.....
